Longtime Mo. state trooper facing felony charge

NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) — A retired Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper has been charged with sexually molesting an underage girl and assaulting another.

Seventy-year-old James D. Hall of Neosho turned himself in Wednesday at the Newton County Sheriff’s Department, posted a $5,000 bond and was released. The Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/VUnZ3f) reported that he faces a felony count of first-degree child molestation and a misdemeanor count of third-degree assault. His attorney was in court Thursday morning and didn’t immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Authorities say both of the alleged victims were 11-year-old girls. The investigation began after a parent of one of the girls contacted authorities.

The Missouri attorney general’s office filed the charges and is prosecuting the case. Hall served with the state patrol from 1964 through 1997.